LJMU scoops trio of UK and European accolades for enterprise and employer engagement
Liverpool John Moores University (LJMU) is today celebrating success after receiving three prestigious awards including the national Times Higher Education (THE) Award for Outstanding Employer Initiative, beating off competition from other UK universities.
LJMU won the accolade at the 12th annual THE awards – the UK’s ‘Oscars’ of the higher education sector, last night. LJMU’s World of Work Career Centre was heralded for the employability impact it brought to students during Liverpool’s Sound City conference in 2015. Judges were most impressed by how the students involved “gained invaluable practical experience to enrich their academic study and gain rare insights into an important industry”.
The Sound City conference, brought together 2,000 music industry professionals from 29 countries to discuss best practice and to develop new business models. Students from 11 degree programmes from six schools at Liverpool John Moores University worked on the conference and festival either via a funded intern scheme or as part of the work-based learning required by their course. In all, 55 students gained a total of 240 days’ work experience.
It was a double whammy in London, as the University’s Astrophysics Research Institute (ARI) was also Highly Commended for Research Project of the Year, for its EAGLE project at the THE awards 2016. The EAGLE submission demonstrated that the project is highly innovative, and the research has far-reaching academic impact within its field, in addition to catching the imagination of the public.
LJMU joined 12,000 guests from the great and the good of the higher education sector, at a glittering ceremony hosted by British acting star Richard E. Grant at the Grosvenor House Hotel in London, last night.
Over in Bratislava on the same evening, the University came top in Europe, scooping the Investing In Entrepreneurial Skills Award, at the 10th European Enterprise Promotion Awards (EEPA). LJMU beat off competition from nine other European countries including Italy and Latvia to win the award which recognized the university’s Enterprise Educators Academe for its innovative and impactful approach to embedding enterprise skills across the teaching curriculum to improve student entrepreneurialism. LJMU’s Professor David Gibson OBE, who conducted extensive research to identify the enterprise skills required to become an entrepreneur or innovator, was on hand to collect the prestigious award.
LJMU’s Professor David Gibson (middle) received the Investing in Enterprise Skills Award at the European Enterprise Promotion Awards.
Vice Chancellor, Professor Nigel Weatherill said: “This is fantastic achievement for the university and for the city of Liverpool. These awards are testament to our commitment to making Liverpool one of the great entrepreneurial cities in the world and equipping our students with acumen to graduate job-ready and become the entrepreneurs of the future. “
This is the second win this year for LJMU’s Enterprise Educators’ Academe which received a national ‘Building Enterprise Skills’ award at the Government’s Enterprising Britain Awards, in September. The Academe, set up just two years ago has trained and supported over 300 academic staff across all subject areas, ensuring ‘enterprise skills’ competencies are embedded across the LJMU curriculum. Enterprise skills are now embedded in more than 150 degree programme pathways, reaching more than 17,000 students. Due to the success of the model, it is now being rolled out to several other educational institutions within Liverpool.